Japan
The Japan pages use Ministry of Finance central government debt as the headline clock. This is not identical to the broader general government debt used in many international tables, so the source and definition should be read together.
How to read this table
The primary sources for the Japan pages are the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Statistics Bureau (e-Stat). IMF material is cited only as secondary, in an international comparison context. The headline on this page is central government debt as published by the MoF, whose perimeter differs from the general government gross or net debt often quoted in international coverage. That is why the series name in the table is the first thing to check.
Release schedules differ by series. MoF bond outstandings, BoJ flow-of-funds data and Statistics Bureau population figures are each published on their own timetable, so the live values on screen are estimates starting from different base dates. Combined figures such as the ratio to GDP or debt per person carry that mismatch, and should be read on that premise.
When citing, carry the series name and base date along with the value. With Japanese debt in particular, gross versus net and central versus general government shift the number by more than a hundred percentage points, so a citation that omits the definition is effectively unverifiable. The links in the table lead to the original releases.
Series by series: publisher, cadence, revisions and how to check
Government debt and the budget
The Financial Bureau of the Ministry of Finance publishes Government Bonds and Borrowings and Government-Guaranteed Debt Outstanding every quarter. Ordinary bonds, FILP bonds, financing bills, borrowings and guaranteed debt appear line by line, so this page’s value should be matched to the total of bonds and borrowings before the guaranteed-debt line. Tax revenue is the previous fiscal year’s provisional settlement published in early July, and expenditure is the general account’s initial budget without supplementary budgets. Because the two cover different ground, the fiscal balance on this page is an indicative approximation.
Base dates and source data
- National Debt — Japan MOF — Government Bonds & Borrowings Outstanding (excl. government-guaranteed debt) · 2026-03-31 · mof.go.jp
- Government Revenue — Japan MOF National Tax Revenue (FY2025 settlement, provisional) · 2026-03-31 · jiji.com
- Government Spending — Japan MOF General Account Expenditure (FY2025 initial budget) · 2025-04-01 · mof.go.jp
Household debt
Household liabilities are taken from the preliminary release of the Bank of Japan Flow of Funds Accounts. It comes out nearly three months after the quarter, and past quarters are revised with the next preliminary release and in the annual revision. Housing loans add up lending by private financial institutions and public bodies, and instalment credit is a sales-credit type balance. The Excel file (sjpre.xlsx) on the Bank of Japan website shows the household liability lines.
Base dates and source data
- Total Household Debt — BOJ Flow of Funds — Household Debt Outstanding (Q1 2026) · 2026-03-31 · boj.or.jp
- Mortgage Debt — BOJ Flow of Funds — Household Housing Loans (Q1 2026) · 2026-03-31 · boj.or.jp
- Credit Card Debt — BOJ Flow of Funds — Household Installment Credit (Q1 2026) · 2026-03-31 · boj.or.jp
Denominators: GDP and population
Nominal GDP comes from the Cabinet Office ESRI national accounts and population from the 2025 census. GDP is revised back to the previous quarter with every quarterly release, and past years are rewritten in the annual estimates and benchmark revisions. The census is taken every five years, and in between the population is carried forward by the monthly estimates of the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Japan’s population is shrinking, so debt per person drifts upward even when debt stands still.
Base dates and source data
- GDP — Japan Cabinet Office ESRI 2025 Nominal GDP (annual) · 2025-12-31 · esri.cao.go.jp
- Population — Japan Statistics Bureau 2025 Census — Population (Oct 1, 2025) · 2025-10-01 · stat.go.jp
External accounts, prices and rates
Trade comes from the Trade Statistics of the Customs and Tariff Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, the current account from the balance of payments statistics compiled jointly by the ministry and the Bank of Japan, and reserves from the ministry’s monthly international reserves release. External debt comes from the ministry’s statistics on external assets and liabilities. Unemployment and consumer prices are the monthly Labour Force Survey and CPI of the Statistics Bureau, the policy rate is set at the Bank of Japan’s Monetary Policy Meetings eight times a year, and the exchange rate is the Bank of Japan’s Tokyo 17:00 rate published each business day. Reserves are published in dollars, so the yen value is a conversion.
Base dates and source data
- External Debt — Japan MOF Gross External Debt Position (Mar 2026) · 2026-03-31 · mof.go.jp
- Foreign Reserves — Japan MOF Official Reserve Assets (Jun 2026, USD ≈ 1.287T) · 2026-06-30 · mof.go.jp
- Current Account Balance — Japan MOF / BOJ Balance of Payments — Current Account (2025) · 2025-12-31 · mof.go.jp
- Total Exports — Japan MOF Trade Statistics — Annual Exports (2025) · 2025-12-31 · customs.go.jp
- Total Imports — Japan MOF Trade Statistics — Annual Imports (2025) · 2025-12-31 · customs.go.jp
- Unemployment Rate — Japan Statistics Bureau Labour Force Survey — Unemployment Rate (2025 avg) · 2025-12-31 · stat.go.jp
- Inflation Rate — Japan Statistics Bureau CPI (2025 annual avg) · 2025-12-31 · stat.go.jp
- Interest Rate — BOJ Policy Rate (uncollateralized overnight call, Jun 2026) · 2026-06-16 · boj.or.jp
- FX Rate (USD ↔ Local) — BOJ Tokyo 17:00 USD/JPY Mid Rate (Jul 17, 2026) · 2026-07-17 · boj.or.jp